Customers are more likely to tip when paying by cash rather than by credit; customers dining alone are less likely to tip than customers in a group; men are more likely to tip relative to women when paying by cash

Cash or Card? Impression Management and Restaurant Tipping Behavior. Vikas Kakkar, King King Li. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, January 17 2022, 101837. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2022.101837

Highlights

•Customers are more likely to tip when paying by cash rather than by credit.

•Customers dining alone are less likely to tip than customers in a group.

•Men are more likely to tip relative to women when paying by cash.

•The visibility of cash tips is exploited for impression management by customers.

Abstract: Existing literature in economics and psychology has documented that impression management is an important motivator of human behavior. However, most of the existing evidence is based on laboratory experiments, where the concern for impression management is artificially induced. We hand-collect a unique data set on restaurant tipping and use the mode of payment to discriminate between impression management and other possible motivations for tipping in a naturally occurring environment. The impression management hypothesis predicts that consumers will tip more frequently when paying by cash, relative to paying by a credit card, because their tipping behavior can be publicly observed and enables them to foster a positive social image. Our three main findings are that (a) the probability of tipping is significantly higher when paying by cash; (b) customers dining alone are significantly less likely to tip and tip significantly lower amounts when paying by cash; and (c) men are significantly more likely to tip and tip larger amounts relative to women. These results are broadly consistent with the impression management hypothesis.

Keywords: Social imageimpression managementmode of payment

Staggered termination of compulsory religious education across German states reduced religiosity, led to more equalized gender roles, fewer marriages & children, higher labor-market participation & earnings; no effect in ethical & political values

Can Schools Change Religious Attitudes? Evidence from German State Reforms of Compulsory Religious Education Benjamin W. Arold, Ludger Woessmann, Larissa Zierow. Ludwigs-Maximilians University’s Center for Economic Studies, working paper 9504-2022. https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp9504.pdf

Abstract: We study whether compulsory religious education in schools affects students’ religiosity as adults. We exploit the staggered termination of compulsory religious education across German states in models with state and cohort fixed effects. Using three different datasets, we find that abolishing compulsory religious education significantly reduced religiosity of affected students in adulthood. It also reduced the religious actions of personal prayer, church-going, and church membership. Beyond religious attitudes, the reform led to more equalized gender roles, fewer marriages and children, and higher labor-market participation and earnings. The reform did not affect ethical and political values or non-religious school outcomes.

JEL-Codes: Z120, I280, H750.

Keywords: religious education, religiosity, school reforms

'Assholes' described by participants were typically middle-aged, predominantly male, and included romantic partners, coworkers, bosses, family members, and friends

Sharpe, Brinkley M., Courtland Hyatt, Donald Lynam, and Josh Miller. 2022. “"they Are Such an Asshole": Describing the Targets of a Common Insult Among English-speakers in the United States.” PsyArXiv. January 16. doi:10.31234/osf.io/7vpx8

Abstract: Insults convey information about the speaker’s perception of the target’s personality. Previous research has found that several commonly used insults (“asshole,” “dick,” “bitch”) are uniformly associated with self- and other-reported antagonism (or low Agreeableness). We aimed to replicate and extend these findings by focusing on the insult “asshole,” a common insult used to refer to both men and women. In the present study, participants (n = 397) described the “biggest assholes” in their lives using a measure of the Five-Factor Model of personality. “Assholes” described by participants were typically middle-aged, predominantly male, and included romantic partners, coworkers, bosses, family members, and friends. Results showed that “assholes” were perceived to be characterized by interpersonally relevant traits (i.e., low Agreeableness, high Anger). The consensus Five Factor Model profile for target “assholes” was similar to expert profiles of psychopathic, antisocial, and narcissistic personality disorders. Exploratory analyses conducted on open-ended descriptions of nominated bothersome “asshole-related” behaviors revealed common themes including manipulation, aggression, irresponsibility, and entitlement.

Legitimizing marital infidelity thru the diffusion of responsibility, the attribution of blame on the cheated partner, advantageous comparisons with other immoral acts, justifying infidelity through certain benefits, and minimizing its negative consequences

Lisman, Carmen, and Andrei C. Holman. 2022. “Innocent Cheaters: A New Scale Measuring the Moral Disengagement of Marital Infidelity.” PsyArXiv. January 16. doi:10.31234/osf.io/pbc49

Abstract: Marital infidelity is both socially perceived as immoral and very frequent. This contradiction might be explained through the process of moral disengagement, specifically by the use of certain socially shared moral justifications of infidelity, which consequently foster unfaithful behavior. This research developed and examined the Infidelity Moral Disengagement Scale (IMDS), aiming to capture the strategies of morally legitimizing infidelity used among people engaged in marital relationships. Across two studies (total N = 609 married participants) we investigated the dimensions and psychometric properties of the IMDS. Results showed that the dominant strategies of legitimizing marital infidelity are the diffusion of responsibility, the attribution of blame on the cheated partner, advantageous comparisons with other immoral acts, justifying infidelity through certain benefits, and minimizing its negative consequences. The IMDS emerged as negatively related to moral identity and strongly associated to people’s past infidelity and to their tendency to engage in unfaithful behaviors.